Tag: Entrepreneurship Lab

Military Advanced Education, the Journal of Higher Learning for Today’s Servicemember, reports on the opening of Pace’s new Entrepreneurship Lab in the April issue.

Military Advanced Educationsaluted Pace’s launch of an Entrepreneurship (E-Lab) which is expected to both nuture the entrepreneurial spirit on campus and serve as a beacon for innovation in the Lower Manhattan community. In addition to the site in Manhattan, the publication noted that Pace opened an Entrepreneurship Lab at the Goldstein Academic Building on its Pleasantville, NY, campus.

Military Advanced Education quoted Neil S. Braun, dean of the Lubin School of Business, on the meaning of entrepreneurship:

“Entrepreneurship, in its broadest sense, is a personal approach for developing ideas into plans and plans into reality. It is interdisciplinary ‘doing.’ Entrepreneurial leadership is as important in large companies as it is in startups; it’s a mindset toward relentless problem solving that leads to successful execution” said Braun, who in his career has assumed many different type of roles, including internet entrepreneur, television network president, corporate attorney, CEO and film producer. “It is therefore at the heart of business education; it is the ultimate capstone for applying the knowledge and skills of the discrete disciplines to a product or service for a specific market opportunity.”

Professor Bruce Bachenheimer, the E-Labs leader, discussed the importance of an entrepreneurial mindset:

“The Entrepreneurship Lab aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset – a way of thinking and acting that focuses on developing new ways to solve problems and create value,” said Bachenheimer, who drafted the initial proposal of the E- Lab. “These skills are important not only for those seeking to establish a new venture, but are increasingly critical in a wide variety of professional careers given today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, where rapid technological innovation and globalization has led to corporate downsizing and a dramatic change in the very nature of work.”

Pace’s new Entrepreneurship Lab in a New York City minute …
Small Business Services Commissioner Robert W. Walsh spoke about Pace’s new space for sharing new business ideas in his March 7th radio broadcast. Commissioner Walsh attended the E-Lab’s opening reception on February 16.

New York City Small Business Commissioner Robert W. Walsh promoted Pace’s new Entrepreneurship Lab in his “The Bottom Line” radio broadcast on March 7 on 1010 WINS, CBS New York.

Read a transcript of Commissioner Walsh’s remarks below or listen to his words by clicking here.

I’m Rob Walsh. One New York City university is helping students get in business. On today’s Bottom Line.

When you put smart people together in a room, the sparks will fly.

That’s why Pace University in Lower Manhattan is creating the Entrepreneurship Lab – a space for students, faculty, and staff to learn from each other and share new business ideas.

It’s a way for students to get a leg up on the entrepreneurial mindset from day one.

Pace University’s new Entrepreneurship Lab, known as the E-Lab, is available to all Pace students, in New York City and in Pleasantville.

Pace University’s new Entrepreneurship Lab, known as the E-Lab, now has a CEO – it’s professor Bruce Bachenheimer of Chappaqua. A clinical professor of management at Pace, Bachenheimer is now also the director of the E-Lab. It is available to all Pace students, in New York City and in Pleasantville.

Bachenheimer will advise all aspiring student entrepreneurs, in everything from accounting and computer science to law and the performing arts, noted the Westchester County Business Journal.

He came up with the idea for the annual Pace Pitch Contest and Business Plan Competition, which he introduced in 2004, just after joining the Lubin School of Business faculty.

“The Entrepreneurship Lab aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset – a way of thinking and acting that focuses on developing new ways to solve problems and create value,” said Bachenheimer. “These skills are important not only for those seeking to establish a new venture, but are increasingly critical in a wide variety of professional careers given today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, where rapid technological innovation and globalization has led to corporate downsizing and a dramatic change in the very nature of work.”

Bachenheimer began his career as a Wall Street trader, and then took several years off to sail through the Caribbean to South America. After that, he launched an importing business and then moved into high-tech forensic science before joining Pace.

“It takes innovation and entrepreneurship to develop things that are meaningful,” Bachenheimer tells us over the phone.

The big picture strategy of the E-Lab is not necessarily to incubate companies or create startups, but it’s to spur entrepreneurial and innovative thoughts and actions.

“We don’t measure our metrics by how many students launch businesses,” Bachenheimer says. “It’s the ability to come up with new and creative solutions to problems, and the ability to add value in a unique and innovative way.”

To spur innovation, Bachenheimer and his E-Lab will provide students with workspace for creative thinking, in addition to access to workshops, guest speakers, roundtable discussions, and networking events involving members of the entrepreneurial community.

“If you’re looking at very good innovators, they have to be young enough so that their minds are not so rigid in the way things are and the way things should be,” says Bachenheimer. “But they also need to have enough knowledge, skills, and abilities to find and solve problems.”

To mold a mind into innovative shape, college students need an “experiential education.” People at that young of an age need to be able to expand their horizons and question the norm, or, to borrow a line from Steve Jobs, you need to “stay hungry, stay foolish” to truly innovate.

“You need to train people to think differently, and if there are specific skills they don’t have, let them know how to get those resources,” Bachenheimer says. “Hopefully, the Entrepreneurship Lab is one of them.”

Pace University opens up entrepreneurship lab, hoping to incubate interdisciplinary collaboration between students—and create some new companies in Lower Manhattan.

Before they were entrepreneurs, Rob Caucci and Jeremy Pease were students by day and residence hall RAs by night. That meant after classes in Pace University’s Lubin School of Business and computer science program, respectively, then would come home to “have to mediate dozens of conflicts every day between roommates,” Caucci says.

In an effort born of that frustration, the pair launched their first company, a roommate-matching software called Reslutions, which they dubbed “eHarmony for college roommates.” Then, after winning Pace University’s 2010 Pitch Contest with that idea, the pair shifted their plans: They are now looking for a $500,000 investment for their roommate cost-sharing and household management start-up, called SpaceSplitter.

Pace is the latest university trying to foster just this kind of partnership—in which a business school student meets an undergrad programmer and begins a lasting entrepreneurial relationship. On Thursday night, the Lubin School of Business at Pace held a reception launching the school’s new entrepreneurship lab, an open-floor-plan space decked in computers and Idea Paint tucked into a corridor of Lubin School. The secret sauce: any student from any school within Pace may apply. The lab’s director, Bruce Bachenheimer, who also organizes the Pace Business Plan Competition and Pitch Contest, said he’d gotten a call from a nursing students asking if she could apply for the lab, hopefully to find a collaborator for a piece of health-care software or an app.

“Entrepreneurship is interdisciplinary problem solving and no one can be expert at everything; therefore well-coordinated collaboration is at the heart of what we strive to instill in our students,” says Neil Braun, dean of Pace’s Lubin School of Business and former president of NBC and chairman of Viacom Entertainment. “The lab is a conducive space for students, faculty, entrepreneurs and city officials to identify opportunities and needs and build a plan to make something good happen.”

Thursday night attracted other bold-faced New York start-up names, including Harold Levy, managing director of Palm Ventures and former NYC Schools chancellor, and Robert Walsh, New York City Small Business Services commissioner.

“New York is a thriving hub of entrepreneurship, but we’re still in the second and third inning,” compared with Silicon Valley’s thriving technology industry and start-up scene, said Somak Chattopadhyay, a partner in Tribeca Venture Partners, who spoke at the Entrepreneurship Lab launch. “We’ve been missing a critical mass of incubators and accelerators.” —Christine Lagorio

Pictured: Robert Walsh, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Small Business Services

Following the lead of schools like New York University and Columbia University, a group at Pace University has created a space for the school’s budding entrepreneurs to call home.

The lab, located on the third floor of 163 William St., will open Thursday. It was the brainchild of Neil Braun, the dean of the university’s Lubin School of Business. However, it will be available for use by all Pace students, not just those from the business school, he said.

“It’s about more than starting companies. Entrepreneurship, to me, is a mindset, a way of thinking and interdisciplinary doing,” said Mr. Braun, adding that the lab will be open to students in all of Pace’s specialized schools, which include programs for computer sciences, business, education and health professions, as well as an arts and science program.

Before becoming dean of Lubin 18 months ago, Mr. Braun was the president of NBC Television Network and CEO and chairman of Viacom Entertainment.

Mr. Braun would not disclose the financials of the lab, but he noted that funding will come from the university. He said the university “reallocated funds that were used for other things that outlived their utility,” adding that he expects future successes from the lab will justify the cost.

The lab will include space for students to conference with investors, a studio for them to work and a large meeting room for speakers. Bruce Bachenheimer, the director of the lab and a professor at Lubin, says he plans to reach out to some of the thousand-plus Pace-area alums who self identify as entrepreneurs to be potential guests.

“This will be very student focused,” Mr. Bachenheimer said. “It’s important for me to see how the students are using the lab and what is providing them with the most value.”

In fact, Mr. Bachenheimer says he has seen an increase in student interest in entrepreneurship in recent years. He blames this on the economy and the high unemployment rate. Students see creating their own companies as a safer route.

“They also want to make something meaningful and create something,” he said.

Part of the inspiration for this lab stemmed from competitions at other schools like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Locally, New York University launched its Innovation Venture Fund in 2010. This group offers seed money for startups built at the university. In November, the organization helped organize an Entrepreneurs Festival for its students.

NYU also partnered with Columbia University to organize hackNY, an group that aims to connect tech-minded students with startups. Columbia has its own lab, Columbia Technology Ventures, which launches about a dozen startups per year.

Pace will be hosting a ribbon-cutting event Thursday evening at the lab to mark its official launch. In addition to members of the Pace community, speakers for the reception include Gurbaksh Chahal, the founder, chairman and CEO of online advertising network RadiumOne, and Robert Walsh, the commissioner at the city’s Department of Small Business Services.

Pace University has deep “roots” in innovation and entrepreneurship. Pace was founded more than 100 years ago by two exemplars of entrepreneurship, the brothers Homer and Charles Pace. With a $600 loan, they rented a classroom in Lower Manhattan to teach the principles of business to men and women aspiring to a better life.

Professor Bruce Bachenheimer – Serial Entrepreneur, Board Member of the MIT Enterprise Forum, and Authority on Collegiate Entrepreneurship – Named Lab’s First Director

NEW YORK, NY, February 13, 2012 – A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, February 16, to be attended by members of New York City’s “entrepreneurship ecosystem” will mark the official launch of the new Pace University Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab), which is expected to both nurture the entrepreneurial spirit on campus and serve as a beacon for innovation in the Lower Manhattan community.

Those scheduled to be on hand at the inauguration of the new space on the third floor at 163 William Street in New York City and give brief entrepreneurial-encouraging remarks at the invitation-only reception include (in alphabetical order):

Bruce Bachenheimer,Director of the Entrepreneurship Lab and Clinical Professor of Management, Lubin School of Business

Neil S. Braun,Dean of the Lubin School of Business and former President of the NBC Television Network and CEO & Chairman of Viacom Entertainment

Robert W. Walsh, Commissioner – New York City Department of Small Business Services

They’ll be joined by Robert Caucci (Pace BBA ‘11, Entrepreneurship; Pace BS ‘11, Business Economics) and Jeremy Pease (Pace BS ’12, Computer Science), co-founders of Reslutions, who had the 2011 Winning New Business Concept Pitch at Pace’s Seventh Annual Pitch Contest. Reslutions is a platform that digitizes and streamlines all of the processes associated with a collegiate housing department and stemmed from the co-founders experience as college resident advisors.

Entrepreneurship: The Heart of Business Education

In addition to 163 William Street in Manhattan, Pace will be simultaneously opening an Entrepreneurship Lab at the Goldstein Academic Building on its Pleasantville, NY, campus. Both E-Labs will provide the tools and mentoring for the development of business plans and the seed capital for new ventures. The E-Labs will also host events featuring guest speakers, workshops and competitions, many of which will be open to the public.

“Entrepreneurship, in its broadest sense, is a personal approach for developing ideas into plans and plans into reality. It is interdisciplinary ‘doing.’ Entrepreneurial leadership is as important in large companies as it is in startups; it’s a mindset toward relentless problem solving that leads to successful execution” said Braun, who in his career has assumed many different type of roles, including internet entrepreneur, television network president, corporate attorney, CEO and film producer. “It is therefore at the heart of business education; it is the ultimate capstone for applying the knowledge and skills of the discrete disciplines to a product or service for a specific market opportunity.

“Professor Bruce Bachenheimer is ideally suited to lead the E-Labs and grow the program,” continued Braun. “Bruce’s relationships throughout the New York City venture community and beyond will be an important building block as we seek to further enhance our standing in, and access to, professionals in the field.”

Bachenheimer is the visionary behind the annual Pace Pitch Contest and Business Plan Competition, which he introduced in 2004, shortly after joining the Lubin faculty. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Directors and past Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum of New York City and has served on the organization’s Global Board. Bachenheimer also serves on the Board of Directors & Advisors of LeadAmerica and has served as a consultant to the NYC Department of Small Business Services and the New York City Economic Development Corp. He founded Annapolis Maritime Corp. and co-founded StockCentral Australia.

“The Entrepreneurship Lab aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset – a way of thinking and acting that focuses on developing new ways to solve problems and create value,” said Bachenheimer, who drafted the initial proposal of the E- Lab. “These skills are important not only for those seeking to establish a new venture, but are increasingly critical in a wide variety of professional careers given today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, where rapid technological innovation and globalization has led to corporate downsizing and a dramatic change in the very nature of work.”

Bachenheimer began his career as a Wall Street trader then had the courage to take a step back from the rat race and go sailing … for several years. After sailing through the Caribbean to South America, he headed to Annapolis, Maryland, where he launched a business importing teak lumber and taught himself yacht joinery. Bachenheimer then transitioned to a career in high-tech forensic science, where he served as the International Product Manager for an entrepreneurial venture, conducting business in over 20 countries. Several years later, Bachenheimer received the prestigious McKinsey & Company Leadership Scholarship to pursue and MBA degree, which he earned from the Australian Graduate School of Management. While completing his degree, he co-founded StockCentral Australia, which grew to become one of the largest financial websites in the country. A Pace alumni, Bachenheimer earned a BBA, Summa Cum Laude, from the Lubin School of Business. He was conversational in Japanese and spent a semester at Tsukuba National University in Japan as an undergraduate.

About Entrepreneurship Studies in the Lubin School of Business at Pace University

The Entrepreneurship Labs on the New York and Pleasantville campuses (www.pace.edu/entlab) build on Pace’s well-established undergraduate and graduate entrepreneurship curriculum and activities such as the Pace Pitch Contest, Business Plan Competition, and Entrepreneur In Residence program. www.pace.edu/entrepreneurship

About Pace University

For 105 years, Pace University has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu